Creating the Conditions for Trust

Two weeks ago we talked about Trust as something that is co-created by the teams throughout the Alliances Development Process and the importance of Authentic Engagement.

The building of Trust is the responsibility of everyone in the partnership. During the Alliances Development Process, Authentic Engagement is slowly encouraged by the support of the Alliances Facilitator who helps by establishing the Alliances Field of Relationship, where productive social contracts are established. The field is simply the practices used by the Facilitator that create the conditions for Authentic Relationship and Trust to emerge along the Journey.

These include:

Beginning each meeting with a Check-In and a Check-Out.

Setting the Intentions, Principles and Priorities of each working session.

Working with Time, Rhythm & Pace, depending on what is actually happening in each moment.

Working with Tone & Emotionality to shift structure and enliven real conversation.

And creating the right atmosphere by choosing the right Place and Space, having the right Nourishment, Materials & Media and Room-Setup.

All these activities need to be aligned to what is actually happening in the group’s relationship and where the team is along the Partnership Journey.

Over time, the alliance group will begin to model the Authentic Engagement that builds ongoing Trust. This includes:

Showing Vulnerability (stating when you do not know something, and asking for input and expressing things openly when you do)

Speaking for your own self, sharing assumptions, revealing desires and expressing what you can and can’t do.

Demonstrating Responsibility for your biases and your own reactions.

Showing Commitment to accommodate and work through challenges.

Remaining Curious in finding solutions together and creating collaboratively.

These practices, establishing the Alliance Field of Relationship and the practice of Authentic Engagement relate to the entire life of an alliance, not only during its development. Yet, experience suggests that bad beginnings can make for bad endings, as such, ensuring Trust is established in the beginning phases, is part and parcel of future success.

About Praxis

Praxis is the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, embodied, and realized through engagement, application, exercise, and practice.

Here at PRAXIS, the Journal of Applied Collaborative Leadership, practitioners contribute, share and learn together to develop PRAXIS in enabling collaboration to emerge in all areas of organizational life.

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Yves Morieux: As work gets more complex, 6 rules to simplify

A wonderful, intuitive and practical talk by Yves Morieux from BCG on simplifying business by building the interconnections to promote cooperative and collaborative conversations and enhancing collective knowing, connection, and most importantly, growing the company muscle to adapt to what is truly happening.

To compete with our most ardent competitors, in reality, our own created complexity, bureaucracy, and ineffective organizational structures, we need to simplify our ways of working together.

At the end of the day, it’s about creating the conditions by which people must cooperate to get work done and collaborate to tackle the collective challenges of our own dysfunctional self-sufficiency by removing complicatedness, where the true battle lies. Take a look; I’m certain you’ll find it interesting!

Good reads

In this cutting-edge work and first-ever “how-to” guide for building successful collaborations, Martin Echavarria, sets out to improve the success rates of strategic alliances and partnerships to become more competitive, more nimble, and more innovative.
This book is an essential guide for any innovator who is interested in driving tremendous value and success for themselves and their companies in this new world of global business alliances. Visit: http://www.enablingcollaboration.com/ to learn more and download additional content to the book.

Theories of Human Communication

On it’s tenth edition, Stephen W. Littlejohn and Karen A. Foss have written a magnificent text-book for the student and practitioner interested in learning and understanding human communication theory. Relevant to anyone thinking about the art of collaboration and collaborative leadership, and of course critical to any group work; communication is after-all the rails on which productive collaboration occurs.

An excellent book full of helpful information for any executive looking for clarity on developing an alliances governance and collaboration structure among other important contractual elements. All of which can be applied in Territories 3 & 4 of Coherence’s 5-Territories of Alliance Development.

Dialogue and The Art of Thinking TogetherA Pioneering Approach to Communicating in Business and in Life.

Isaacs’s book is a well written, interesting and practical guide to building collaborative spaces between all kinds of groups. A highly recommended work.